legacyofkainfandomcom-20200222-history
Avernus Catacombs
The Avernus Catacombs were a set of underground tunnels and burial chambers in the city of Avernus beneath Avernus Cathedral. Often associated with the worship of the Hash'ak'gik cult and demonic forces, the tunnels were hidden from the ordinary citizens of the city and were visited by Kain and Raziel in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Defiance respectively. Role In the course of his quest in Blood Omen Kain visited Avernus and its Cathedral in the chapter Defeat Azimuth seeking to challenge the Guardian of Dimension - Azimuth the Planar. Beforehand he was advised before by Ariel that he would have to "rise and fall and find his salvation in between" When Kain arrived in Avernus Cathedral he found it was apparently split into several 'realms', with teleporters linking them. The regular Cathedral was mirrored in a shadowy alternate realm. In addition Kain breached a bright white 'heavenly' realm, a dark and gory underground 'hellish' realm, and a secret chamber underground dedicated to the worship of the 'god' 'Hash'ak'gik'. In the Catacombs and the other chambers beneath Avernus the young Kain was able to find the Wraith Armor and several other interesting areas including one that resembled a scene in the opening FMV and appeared to contain Malek's corpse, as well as the hidden Hash'ak'gik's altar, which showed a secondary religion that was active in Avernus which demanded blood sacrifices. BO1-Map0038-Sect43-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png|Hell BO1-Map0038-Sect44-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect53-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect52-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect32-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect42-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect71-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect41-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect63-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect62-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect51-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect72-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect54-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect61-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect64-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect72-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png BO1-Map0038-Sect65-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png The Catacombs were revisited in Defiance, apparently a short while after the young Kain had been through.Raziel, coming to the Cathedral in search of the Heart of Darkness was able to gain entry to an underground chamber beneath the Cathedral which contained a warp gate leading to the Earth Forge within the Vampire Citadel where Raziel was able to imbue the Earth Reaver. Returning to the Cathedral with the Earth Reaver, Raziel was able to summon a set of Earth platforms which allowed him to climb high in the Cathedral to a balcony where he could pick up a Dark Scripture which opened up a portal to the Catacombs when placed in the altar of the Cathedral. In the Catacombs, assailed by Cenobites who summoned Red Fire Demons, Raziel discovered murals of the Elder Wars, except this time they were from the Hylden perspective and they showed the Ancient Vampires as terrifying aggressors, descending from the skies to attack their enemies for refusing "to submit to the Wheel of Fate ". He also found an image of how the Hylden saw their own champion - a dark silhouette in the shape of Raziel, whose flaming sword now seemed much more like the Wraith-blade . This champion was to "destroy the shackles of the vampires tyrannous god ." Further along the chambers he found his way to a large pit where Mortanius and the Cenobites were apparently worshipping the Hash'ak'gik entity. When they had finished Raziel moved close enough to the pit to be telekinetically dragged into it by the Entity, which was revealed to be his (d)evolved brother from the far future, Turel, who was possessed by several Hylden. Battling Turel, Raziel was able to devour his soul and finally gain the Amplified Force Projectile (that was removed from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver along with Turel) which brought his telekinetic abilities up to Kain's standard. Exiting the Pit, Raziel met the Mortanius, (who was leaving a message for the younger Kain.) Mortanius, much like Truel was possessed by Hylden, this time a single Hylden - the Hylden Lord, who confired that it was he who put the chain of events that led to the corruption in motion by murdering Ariel. Raziel also got Mortanius to admit to hiding the Heart of Darkness inside Kain. As Raziel exited the Catacombs to the Cathedral, Kain entered and the two battled. Raziel won the battle, claiming the Heart of Darkness and sending the apparently dying Kain through the portal back to the Catacombs. Defiance-Avernus-Avernus3a-CatacombsPortal.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus3a-1-Portal.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus3a-2-Turn.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus3a-3-Clearing.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus3a-4-Turn.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus4a-1-Turn.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus4a-2-Clearing.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus4a-3-Turn.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus4a-TurelDoor.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Top-Back.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Top.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-FullHeight.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-TopPlatform.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-TopPlatform-Spectral.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-TorchSymbols.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-MortaniusChamber.png Defiance-Avernus-Catacombs-MortaniusChamber.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-SidePassages.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Spectral-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Spectral-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-SideDoor.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Portal.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Tall.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-High.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Top.png Some time later Kain woke in the Demon Realm and found himself in Hash'ak'gik's pit. Attacked by a 'demon horde' Kain was able to fight them off and make his way back to the Material Realm through the portal. Shortly afterward he left the Catacombs and Avernus itself and returned to the Vampire Citadel -apparently feeling the pull of the Spirit Forge . Design and Layout Environment Hash'ak'gik's altar Hash'ak'gik's altar was a secret area within Avernus Cathedral, visited by Kain during the Blood Omen era. It was a perverse, occult shrine to the god Hash'ak'gik, and contained battle artifacts and a tome recounting his commands to human worshippers. The altar could be visited in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. In the first timeline, while exploring Avernus Cathedral in his search for Azimuth, Kain discovered the Soul Reaver and the Wraith Armor, but these were not the only curiosities he could uncover within its nooks and crannies before confronting the Dimension Guardian. At the north-east end of the Cathedral's main hall, near the public altar, a well-hidden door led to the uppermost balcony of the Hell realm. The balcony led to one adjacent passage - a stone corridor containing many battle artifacts, which, when followed, culminated in a second, much darker shrine. Legacy of Kain Secrets: Page 9 of 9 at SK: The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain (archived at Dark Chronicle) The shrine room was gory and chaotic, and it contained a blood-stained tome which read as follows: The floor of this altar room was decorated with a demon-like image, but Kain had yet to recognize its significance. When he confronted Mortanius at the end of his quest, he realized that the Death Guardian had been possessed by a malevolent entity - an entity which, through him, had orchestrated the death of Ariel and the corruption of the Pillars. As he died, Mortanius's body was transformed by the entity, taking on the shape of the monster depicted in the shrine's image. It was the "Unspoken" which Ariel had warned him to be wary of; he defeated it handily. When Raziel later visited the Avernus Catacombs in the fourth timeline, he discovered the truth behind Hash'ak'gik and his worship. Hash'ak'gik was a pseudonym forcibly used by Turel, his vampire brother from the Soul Reaver era: Azimuth, a devout worshipper of the Hylden, had summoned Turel back through time using a time-streaming device stolen from Moebius. Question and Answer with Amy Hennig at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln) Answers to questions from the Defiance team at the Eidos forums (by Chris@Crystal) The Hylden were an ancient race whose banishment in the Demon Realm was sustained by the Pillars of Nosgoth; they and the Unspoken were one and the same, and they were capable of possessing creatures in the Material Realm to do their bidding. The entity behind Hash'ak'gik and the possession of Mortanius was the Hylden Lord, a leader among the banished militants. Turel, in his devolved state, was trapped, and utilized as the mouthpiece for the Hash'ak'gik cult; periodically possessed by various Hylden, he was used to command the cenobites of Avernus, thus facilitating the downfall of the Pillars, which would eventually give rise to Kain's empire. The words in the tome which Kain had discovered implied that it was all a cyclic phenomenon; Turel had taken part in Raziel's execution under Kain's command, and his order to his disciples that they "shed their born's blood on the altar of the world" to sustain him appeared to emulate the fate which would befall his brother in the distant future. Hash'ak'gik and Hash'ak'gik's Altar at Dark Chronicle (by Marie Tryhorn) The passageway leading to the altar area was very dimly-lit, and was wrought from stone spattered with blood. The altar area itself was a grim sight, shaped to resemble a jaw (with teeth for walls), and decorated with skull imagery. Innumerable real skeletons filled pits on either side of the trail towards the altar itself, with a few skulls, ribcages spilling over onto the walkway. Nine toppled marble pillars were also strewn around the rubble-laden room, possibly lending suggestion to the ultimate intent behind the Dark Entity's plan. Before Crystal Dynamics obtained the Legacy of Kain intellectual property, Silicon Knights had different plans for what they described as the "Blood Omen series". Recreated PSXnation.com Interview with Denis Dyack at Nosgothic Realm Although these plans would not come to fruition, their next game, 2002's Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, focused very heavily upon a grimoire dedicated to a dark god and found in a secret room - the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Silicon Knights. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. (Nintendo). Nintendo GameCube. (June 23, 2002) It seems possible that Hash'ak'gik's altar was originally intended to serve as a "teaser" for a potential sequel to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and that this concept was absorbed into Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem when Silicon Knights lost control of the Legacy of Kain IP. GLoK Interviews with Amy Hennig at Nosgothic Realm (by Raziel Fan) It is unclear whether the tome on Hash'ak'gik's altar was supposed to relate to the Dark Scripture in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. The maroon, leathery covers of the tome and the Scripture greatly resemble each other, but they were discovered in what seemed to be very different areas of the Cathedral. File:BO1-Map0009-Sect00-HashakgikAltar.png|Hash'ak'gik's altar (BO1). File:BO1-Map0009-Sect01.png|The passage leading to Hash'ak'gik's altar (BO1). File:BO1-Render-Miscellaneous-HashAkGik-Windowed.png|A windowed depiction of the Hash'ak'gik tome (BO1). File:BO1-Render-Miscellaneous-HashAkGik.png|A fullscreen depiction of the Hash'ak'gik tome (BO1). Turel's Pit and Mortanius's chamber Turel's Pit was perhaps the most significant area of the Catacombs visited in the Blood Omen era seen in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Similar to Hash'ak'gik's altar in Blood Omen the pit was an area dedicated to the worship of dark god Hash'ak'gik. The chamber was a wide open cavernous area dominated by a large circular pit filled with murky smoke. Defiance-Avernus-Avernus4a-TurelDoor.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Top-Back.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Top.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-FullHeight.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-TopPlatform.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-TopPlatform-Spectral.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-TorchSymbols.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-MortaniusChamber.png Defiance-Avernus-Catacombs-MortaniusChamber.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-SidePassages.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Spectral-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Spectral-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-SideDoor.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Portal.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Tall.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-High.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Top.png Notes BO1-Map0038-Sect65-AvernusCathedral-Interior-Hell.png|The final chamber of the hell realm... BO1-DD-TheFailureOfTheCircle-086.png|...Malek's execution at the start of the game... Defiance-Avernus-Catacombs-MortaniusChamber.png|...and Mortanius's chamber nearby Turel's pit in the Catacombs of Defiance *The Avernus Catacombs are directly named as either "Avernus catcombs", "subterranean catacombs", "the catacombs" or similar variants in Defiance dialogue, transcripts, original scripts, the official guide and title screen images. Blood Omen sources do not refer to any area by this title, although subsequent interviews with Chris Bruno associated at least the altar of Hash'ak'gik as part of the catacombs - and possibly further areas. *In Defiance the catacombs are split into several distinct map areas. "Avernus 3a" refers to initial corridors and trails surrounding the first clearing area, "Avernus 4a" refers to the corridors and trails surrounding the second clearing area, "Avernus 5a" refers to Turel's pit and Mortanius's chambers, and "Avernus 6a" refers to the Demon Realm alternate of Turel's pit. The official guide mentions the catacombs in passing but refers more to Avernus and The Cathedral as the main start points of the area - in contrast to other areas of the game the only individual room area listed is "Turel's pit" (which includes Mortanius's chamber and the demon Realm variant of the room), all of the other catacombs chambers are listed as under the single title of "Connector". Tuel's pit is the only area which has a map provided. *Despite appearing to be the same area, the Demon Realm version of Turel's pit in Defiance is actually counted as a separate area unconnected to the rest of the level - in contrast to the Spectral Realm variants of levels which are usually counted as the same area. When examined using a free camera it becomes clear that even discounting the visual effects a number of stark differences exist between the demon realm and other variants. Notably the ceiling in the demon realm is a lot lower with a number of hanging rocks. Passing through it reveals the high platform above the pit still present and fully constructed by backed by a bright orange background. An apparently unused health talisman can be seen in the distance. *The exact borders of what constitutes the Catacombs are not conclusively discussed. The main area of the catacombs is obviously identified by Raziel in dialogue - but by strict definition any artificial underground location associated with religious practice could be considered to represent part of the catacombs, including nearby underground areas such as the Hell realm and the secret altar of Hash'ak'gik in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and the Earth forge warp room in Legacy of Kain: Defiance **The Hell realm seen in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain in particular could be considered to be the same location as the catacombs - with both representing somewhat similarly designed underground areas beneath Avernus Cathedral that are populated by demons and their worshippers and were similarly skeletally or hellishly themed. It too was unclear how it related to the rest of the Cathedral, appearing to be underground but only entered via portal - some of its area also bore particular resemblance to those in the catacombs. **The secret altar of Hash'ak'gik in Blood Omen - which is entered from the main Cathedral but passes through the top of the descending chamber of the hell realm on the way to the altar room - is noted by Chris Bruno as being placed in the catacombs, but it is unclear if this implies the entire hell realm is in the catacombs or just the altar itself. Chris@Crystal's Greatest Hits at the Eidos Forums (archived at the Square Enix Forums) (by Divine Shadow/Chris Bruno). Warp's answers from Amy at the Eidos Forums (archived at the Square Enix Forums) (by Warpsavant/Blincoln/Amy Hennig). *Mortanius's chamber and Turel's pit in Defiance bear a resemblance to the area where Malek was punished by Mortanius in the initial cutscenes of Blood Omen A similarly appearing area with a golden circular floor symbol and nearby pillars is also seen in the final area of the Hell realm in Blood Omen with a skeleton chained between two pillars - the skeleton is referred to in the official guide as Malek's remains, however the guide also claims the remains in Malek's Bastion as his - as does Malek himself. It is ultimately unclear if the areas were literally intended to be the same area or just similar chambers. The Catacombs are another area that changes radically between its appearances in Blood Omen and Defiance. In Blood Omen, the walls are piled high with bones and there are many skeletons and other supernatural creatures in the Catacombs. In Defiance the skeletons are gone, replaced by Cenobites and Demons (which did not enter the Cathedral in Blood Omen) and the bones are seen to be merely bone-like ribbed walls. The chained corpse seen in Blood Omen, although not identified as such, certainly resembles the corpse of Malek seen in the opening video and is perhaps a better candidate that the one identified by Malek in his bastion . Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Spectral-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Left.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-Spectral-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Right.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-TopPlatform.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus5a-TurelPit-TopPlatform-Spectral.png Defiance-Avernus-Avernus6a-TurelPit-DemonRealm-Top.png In Blood Omen, Hash'ak'gik's Altar has on it a bloodstained book (which may be related to the Dark Scripture seen to open the way to the Catacombs in Defiance.)The book has in it the text ''"And Hash'ak'gik spoke to the world and all who heard trembled "bring me your first born and shed their blood on the altar of the world so I might take nourishment from them, do this without question or suffer my wrath for eternity." and its will was done"''The passage certainly bears a resemblance to the Kain's execution of Raziel and may be indicative of Turel's witnessing of the event. Further clues to Turel becoming the Hash'ak'gik entity can be seen on the doors to the Pit Chamber in Defiance, which are marked with Turel's clan symbol from Soul Reaver - as it the platform over the pit and the torches on it. Azimuth is, although absent in Defiance, (she has already been killed by the younger Kain) highly implicated in the events there. She was likely to have been aware of and been a leading figure in the Hash'ak'gik Cult and arguably may have had more knowledge of the true face of the Cult, as she was Dimension Guardian. In Blood Omen she carried with her a Time Streaming Device, which she had planned to use to gather Demons from other times. It now seems she managed to use this device to bring Turel to Avernus from the far future, which also means she would have been aware that Turel was merely an impressive front to encourage worship of Hash'ak'gik amongst the Guardians, making them vulnerable to the Hylden's plans, indeed Mortanius still wasn't aware of the true face of the cult in Defiance. Navigation it:Cattedrale e Catacombe di Avernus Category:Locations Category:Locations: Blood Omen locations Category:Locations: Blood Omen dungeons Category:Locations: Defiance locations Category:Locations: Defiance major locations Category:Locations: Dungeons Category:Navigation Category:Navigation: Blood Omen Category:Navigation: Defiance